Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems

  1. James J. Elser1,*,
  2. Matthew E.S. Bracken2,†,
  3. Elsa E. Cleland3,
  4. Daniel S. Gruner2,‡,
  5. W. Stanley Harpole4,
  6. Helmut Hillebrand5,
  7. Jacqueline T. Ngai6,
  8. Eric W. Seabloom7,
  9. Jonathan B. Shurin6,
  10. Jennifer E. Smith3

Article first published online: 8 OCT 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01113.x

Issue

Ecology Letters

Ecology Letters

Volume 10, Issue 12, pages 1135–1142, December 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Elser, J. J., Bracken, M. E., Cleland, E. E., Gruner, D. S., Harpole, W. S., Hillebrand, H., Ngai, J. T., Seabloom, E. W., Shurin, J. B. and Smith, J. E. (2007), Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters, 10: 1135–1142. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01113.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

  2. 2

    Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California-Davis, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, USA

  3. 3

    National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA

  4. 4

    Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA

  5. 5

    Institute for Botany, University of Cologne, Koln D-50931, Germany

  6. 6

    Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada

  7. 7

    Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA

  1. †

    Present address: Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA 01908, USA.

  2. ‡

    Present address: Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

* *E-mail: j.elser@asu.edu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 OCT 2007
  2. Article first published online: 8 OCT 2007
  3. Editor, James Grover Manuscript received 27 March 2007 First decision made 4 May 2007 Second decision made 5 July 2007 Manuscript accepted 18 July 2007

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Keywords:

  • Ecosystem;
  • meta-analysis;
  • nitrogen;
  • nutrient limitation;
  • phosphorus;
  • primary production

Abstract

The cycles of the key nutrient elements nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been massively altered by anthropogenic activities. Thus, it is essential to understand how photosynthetic production across diverse ecosystems is, or is not, limited by N and P. Via a large-scale meta-analysis of experimental enrichments, we show that P limitation is equally strong across these major habitats and that N and P limitation are equivalent within both terrestrial and freshwater systems. Furthermore, simultaneous N and P enrichment produces strongly positive synergistic responses in all three environments. Thus, contrary to some prevailing paradigms, freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems are surprisingly similar in terms of N and P limitation.

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